A friend sent me the "rules" that Dame Judi Dench always follows when acting Shakespeare; I thought it would cool to share them with you, as well as what they mean to me:

1. Remember it's a play, not reality. Well said - too many actors get lost in the moment at the expense their connection to the other actors.

2. Obey the meter. If you break the rhythm of the meter, you are betraying the natural speech patterns of human speech and no matter how hard you try to sound "natural" - it will sound "off" to the audience. Not to mention you will often times lose your character's emotional life if you betray the psychological speech patterns of the character.

3. Start scenes. Start your scene with energy and purpose! Before entereing, know what you want, how to potentially get it, and what to do when you get it...

4. Earn a pause.  Too often, actors will pause their speech for thought/emotion, putting "air" into the words that is not necessarily needed. Speech in Shakespeare's plays comes at the speed of thought, so there's often no need to pause unless you earn it.

5. Don't separate. This one is subject to interpretation, but it may mean don't get too bogged down in the stress/unstress of iambic pentameter (don't get too sing-songy).

6. Drive through the speech. The energy that is needed is in the lines; use the words to drive you to the next thought, and then the next, to the conclusion. No need to contemplate any speech's meaning and lose the energy when it's as clear to the character as he or she works through it. The energy is in the words. Use the text to keep the energy of the character. This doesn't mean go FAST - this just means that you should speak through the thoughts the character has, not before or after them.

7. Antithesis pauses, up at the ends of lines. An antithesis should force an actor to pause, to draw the audience's attention to whatever contrast the line creates. Think of it as weighing out two options -- you want to make sure whoever you're explaining it to can separate one idea from the other. Shakespeare uses antithesis a lot, especially when a character is talking directly to the audience. "Up at the end of lines" is an admonishment not to swallow that final syllable -- especially since regular iambic pentameter wants you to land on the stress.

8. Economy, simplicity, and negotiate with humor. Economy -- don't make your acting too complex, else you will garble the thoughts. Simplicity -- don't be all over the place - focus your emotional intention and action. Negotiate with humor -- nuff said here, find the humor in the text, even at its darkest point, there is always humor to be found.

9. You don't have to carry the message; the play does it for you. Again, divest yourself of the notion that you have to push too hard on the "message" or "moral" that the play communicates to the audience. Audience members don't like when you patronize them. Allow them to find their own unique meaning.

10. Trust the play and your casting. There's nothing more anxiety inducing than feeling that the play -- and your role in that performance -- isn't working on the audience. Unless someone walks out (and even if then, you've made them have an emotional response) there's no reason that you should feel that you need to second guess the play.

Another episode of Chop Bard's Twelfth Night – Act 2 scene 4 – Orsino attempts to educate Cesario in the ways of women and relationships. Viola has something to say about that. Feste sings another song. Love is weird in Illyria.

Featuring: Matt Gordon, and Eve Marie Mugar.

Something About You, by Ukulele Jim, courtesy of music.mevio.com

So over the years, I've had the opportunity to perform a bit of Shakespeare. Not a HUGE amount, but not a little. And every time I act in a Shakespeare play, I usually get the same question. No, not, "How do you memorize all the words," although I usually respond to that in the same way that I respond to many other questions: "I do it until I no longer want to."

The question I often get is: "What makes a Shakespearean actor different from a regular actor?" As if we separate ourselves from the common flock... pshaw! :D

Well, I'm here to disavow you all of a common notion - that acting in Shakespeare is hugely different/better than acting in any other type of theater. It's not. 

Acting in Shakespeare is not fundamentally different from acting in a contemporary play. The basic skills involved are the same. There are, however, some important differences between classical texts (and especially with Shakespeare) that if you wish to perform it you should be aware. 

Differences between Shakespearean Acting and Modern Acting

The most significant difference between acting Shakespeare and acting in a contemporary play is the importance in Shakespeare of the text (the words) – that is, from the actor’s point of view, the character’s speech.  In Shakespeare, the speech of the characters is far and away the most important – and powerful – element of performance.

The reason that the characters’ speech is so important is that Shakespeare has put just about everything that happens on stage (including all of the thoughts, fears, hopes, dreams, and schemes of the characters) into the characters’ speech. As a general rule there is no “subtext” in Shakespeare. What the character wants, thinks, feels, fears, and experiences is explicitly stated by the character in the character’s speech.

In contrast, in most modern plays, the characters often hide or disguise their real feelings, thoughts, and intentions; their words usually hide as much as they reveal; this almost never happens in Shakespeare. Shakespeare is almost always verbally explicit; his speeches are revelations, a release of the character’s immediate and authentic feeling and thought.

While Shakespeare’s language is the most powerful element in his work, it is also the most difficult element for contemporary readers and actors. In order to understand and enjoy Shakespeare, the full impact of the text – which can seem so unlike the language we are used to speaking – must be understood and felt. This problem is even greater for the actor than it is for the reader or the audience member, since the actor must be able not only to fully understand the text, but  to communicate that understanding in an immediate way to the audience.

I have recently noticed that outside of acting classes or lectures, there really isn't somewhere online that a person has given other actors tools or tips for greater understanding of Shakespeare’s texts in both reading and performance. Some of you may already know many of these, some may not. Please bear with my didactic nature.

Antitheses

One of the most important tools for understanding and communicating Shakespeare’s text is to discover (and play) the antitheses. An antithesis is the setting of one word (or group of words) against another word (or group of words) with an opposite or contrasting meaning.  Famous examples of antithesis in Shakespeare are:

To be, or not to be. . .

His disgrace is to be called boy; but his glory is to subdue men.

Fair is foul, and foul is fair. . .

What he has lost, noble Macbeth has won. . .

Unless the antitheses are noted (and played) by the actor, the meaning and force of the speech is lost. Moreover, especially in longer speeches, unless the actor uses and plays the antitheses, the speech tends to become unintelligible. The antitheses shape and clarify the thought.

Verbs

Another tool for understanding and communicating Shakespeare’s text is to notice, lift, energize, and play with the verbs. Much of the force and energy of Shakespeare’s speeches come from his choice of verbs. Moreover, a character’s use of verbs tells us much about the meaning – and the emotional content – of a speech. Characters reveal their emotional states through their choice of verbs.  For example, note the very active verbs said by the very active Macduff in Macbeth:

Let us now
Hold fast the mortal sword and like good men
Bestride our downfall’n birthdom; each new morn
New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows
Strike heaven in the face.

The actor must (1) notice the verbs; (2) use to verbs to help understand the emotional force of the speech; (3) feel and stress the power of the verbs (make the verbs sound like the action they express); and  (4) make the verbs your own – that is, consciously chose them in the process of speaking them.

Onomatopoeia

Verbs and adjectives also provide opportunities for the use of onomatopoeia — words that sound like the thing they signify.  The speech quoted above offers many opportunities for onomatopoeia: hold fast, bestride, howl, cry, strike.  The actor can add force and color (and clarity) to these words by making them sound like what they mean.

Sound and Sound Patterns

Always look for opportunities to use the sound of the text.  Listen to the text and play with the possibilities of sound.  Always look for and use opportunities for onomatopoeia other sound patterns – especially words and sounds that are repeated in a speech.

In Shakespeare, words and sounds are often repeated. Sometimes the sound patterns form a rhyme, sometimes not; sometimes they come at the ends of the lines (usually a two-line rhyme, which is called a couplet), and sometimes within the lines.  The sound pattern might also include repetition of a word. Consonance is a poetic device characterized by the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession, as in "pitter patter" or in "all mammals named Sam are clammy". Consonance should not be confused with assonance, which is the repetition of vowel sounds. Alliteration is a special case of consonance where the repeated consonant sound is at the stressed syllable, as in "few flocked to the fight" or "around the rock the ragged rascal ran". Alliteration is usually distinguished from other types of consonance in poetic analysis, and has different uses and effects. 

Shakespeare loved to create sound patterns in his speeches – and audiences love to hear them. As actors, we need to (1) notice the sound patterns and (2) use them consciously to give the speech clarity, force, and color. Your job is to find them, play them, and make them come alive.

Images

Look for and play the images (in phrases and groups of words) that Shakespeare creates and try to communicate the fullness and reality of that image in your mind and to the audience. Some examples of images in Shakespeare are:

Now is the winter of our discontent…

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…

Where we are,
There’s daggers in men’s smiles…

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more.

Realize, dont report

A great teacher once gave me some very sound advice about making a speech come alive -- "realize, don't report." Meaning, if there is a point at which the character suddenly realizes something extremely important and conveys it through the lines, that can make the words take on a life of their own. Look for them in each Shakespeare speech. Does the character undergo a realization in the course of the speech?  If so, the speech will be more interesting, more engaging to the audience, and more fun for you to play!  

Irony and Double Meanings

Irony is not rain on your wedding day. Nor is it a free ride when you've already paid. Irony is when words convey a meaning opposite from their literal meaning or when an action has an effect exactly opposite from what was intended.  There is both comic irony and tragic irony. Look for irony in all of Shakespeare’s plays.  Shakespeare loved irony and so do audiences. Realization of Irony is what makes characters and audiences connect at a very human level.  Learn to love it, find it, and play it.

It’s about the Action (Not just the Words)

Shakespeare’s speeches are not just words: they are actions (something the actor is doing) and events (combinations of actions that lead something to happen on stage).  Plays are not made up of words, but of the actions played and events created on stage. Discover what happens (the action) in the speech and do it!  Discover the events and make them happen – bring them to life on stage! But make sure that you are aligning the words to the actions that you are presenting. "Suit the action to the word and the word to the action."


To be continued...

Time to go play Laertes in Hamlet. To be honest I personally sympathize much more with him than Hamlet , and it's going to be a real treat to play him with such a fine group of actors.

1pm December 13

New York Public Library, Bloomingdale Branch 150 West 100th St

Twelfth Night – Act 1 scene 3 & 4 – Let misbehavior reign, as Sir Toby Belch, Maria, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek make their way into the play, while Viola makes her first appearance as a boy.

Featuring Matt Gordon, Eve Marie Mugar, and Heather Ordover
 Bring the Noise – Unholy Trio, by Drunken Prayer

Spend Saint Crispin's Day (October 25th!) with us, storming the beaches of France...

The Life of Henry the Fifth 
by William Shakespeare

Saturday, October 25 1pm
NY Library, Muhlenberg Branch 
209 West 23rd St (near Seventh Ave.)

Cast (in order of appearance): 
Larry Reina - Chorus, Jamy, Sir Thomas Erpingham, Duke of York
Paul Battiato* - Archbishop of Canterbury, King Charles of France, Grandpre, Cambridge, Duke of Bourbon
Zack Krajnyak - Bishop of Ely, Lord Scroop, Gower, Earl of Salisbury
Matt Gordon - King Henry V
Lila Weingast - Humphrey of Gloucester, Sir Thomas Grey
Abigail Getty - John of Bedford, Duke of Berri, Duke of Bretagne, Williams
Sheldon Shaw - Duke of Exeter, Rambures
Emily Davis - Earl of Warwick, Bardolph, Constable, Bates 
Marie Barrientos - Earl of Westmorland, Fluellen
Damian Long - Thomas of Clarence, Dauphin
Fahim Hamid* - Ambassador of France, Pistol, Duke of Orleans, English Herald
Emily C. A. Snyder - Nym, Governor of Harfleur, Montjoy, Duke of Burgundy
Cara Maltz - Hostess, Queen Isabel
Valerie Terranova* - Boy, French Messenger
Tai Verley* - French Court Attendant, Macmorris, Alice, Court
CC Kellogg - Katherine, French Soldier

So, the cat is finally out of the bag. I'm now one of the guest voiceover artists performing on Chop Bard - the Internet's most listened to Shakespeare podcast. It's also iTunes' most long running podcast about the Bard, having started all the way back in 2007. Click on the embedded audio below to have a listen and while you're at it, go check out Chop Bard's other amazing podcasts here!

I normally use this site to talk about the amazingly positive things going on in my life, but I think that it's very important to note the other things. After all, there is no hope without despair, no joy without pain, no laughter without tears. Nowhere did I witness a greater talent for giving the gift of laughter to humankind than in Robin Williams. He was always my favorite comedian from a young age, and has certainly been one of my top five favorite actors, considering his substantial dramatic work. Needless to say, his death has left me shocked, saddened, and angry, and has left a figurative hole in my life. I will never again witness a future instance of his manic, ravenous, imaginative, explosive performances. I will never again be able to see one of his litany of wonderful performances that is not in someway tainted by his self-inflicted passing. Perhaps some would construe this as selfish, but to each their own.

Let me interrupt by saying that there are many discussions about Robin's death on the internet (when are there not?) and about the pain that Robin battled all through his life. Yesterday, that battle finally came to an end. I feel a certain sense of relief that in death, Robin was released from the pain and sorrow that he fought on a daily basis.

Many people cite his work in Good Will Hunting, a masterful Oscar-winning performance, as his career best. Others consider his voice work in Aladdin, his comic genius in Mrs. Doubtfire or his childlike guile in Hook as their favorite. My personal favorite performance of his, both immensely poignant and also very funny, was his turn as Mr. Keating in Dead Poets Society. Note that overall, I've had a certain level of discomfort with this movie. Its subject matter: an oppressive father, subjugation of intellect and creativity and its barefaced portrayal of suicide hits very hard with me, emotionally. I think that I might have cried more at this movie than at E.T. That's saying a lot, considering my whole family openly wept at E.T. in the movie theater. Dead Poets Society is still hard for me to watch, but there are so many great performances that I find solace in the wisdom imparted by its masterful story telling. One such example is this scene, made even more relevant by Robin's untimely death.

From all reports, Robin suffered from clinical depression, which although I cannot say that I personally have experienced, I can tell that it was a debilitating condition which he, like many others in his profession, hid well by inspiring joy  in others. I can only hope that others who suffer in the same way reach out to those loved ones around them to get any help they can. 

In closing, I would like to cite this poem in memory of my inspiration, my childhood idol, my laughter, Robin Williams. 

May you rest well, knowing you have truly seized the day and shown us all so much joy and shared your talent with humanity.

Who makes the clown laugh when he is down?
When he’s depressed, who is there around?
He spends all his time cheering up others
Mothers, Fathers, Sisters and Brothers
He puts on a front, he puts on a show
But deep down inside, his own being is low
He’s depended by people to brighten their lives
Yet his own existence is full of trouble and strife
He’s called upon by others when they have worries
He humours them with jokes, actions and stories
But when he’s alone, he starts to feel sad
Isolation and loneliness makes him go mad
His audience has gone, no one for a banter
The repertoire of jokes he tells at a canter
They’re no longer needed, there’s no one to tell
He cries for attention, he’s going through hell
When needing a lift, favours are not returned
He calls for help but his pleas are spurned
Sitting alone, he longs for true company
The chatter of voices, the sound of a symphony
He can’t raise himself, his efforts are wasted
So he sits and cries for the joy he once tasted
Who makes the clown laugh when he is low?
That is the question, for I do not know.

-J W Austin

Nought's had, all's spent,
Where our desire is got without content;
'Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.

Macbeth
Saturday, July 19 1pm
New York Public Library, Riverside Branch 
127 Amsterdam Ave. (at 65th St.)

Cast (in order of appearance): 
Abby Wilde* as 1st Witch/Lady Macduff
CC Kellogg as 2nd Witch/Gentlewoman
Becky Whitcomb as 3rd Witch/Messenger
Patrick Connolly* as Duncan/Old Man/3rd Murderer/Old Siward
Artem Kreimer as Malcolm/2nd Murderer/
Kyle Minshew* as Sergeant/Macduff
Cliff Staebler as Lennox
Abbi Hawk as Ross
Stevie D'Arbanville as Donalbain/1st Murderer/Menteith/Doctor
Everett Goldner as Angus/Porter/English Doctor
Matt Gordon as Macbeth
Paul Battiato* as Banquo/Caithness/Seyton
Julie Thaxter-Gourlay as Lady Macbeth
Lila Weingast as Fleance/Servant/Son to Macduff/Young Siward